They had run completely out. . . .

. . .by the time I got in the line for technical ability.

This computer has been up and down for several days lately. I was trying to set up a wireless network by myself. We can pause here for those of you who know me to stop laughing. There have been uncounted hours worth of fiddling with codes, researching settings, trying to use the "Chat Help" feature that Earthlink makes one use, and repeating myself over and over on the telephone support line. On the plus side, I am acquiring a fairly good facility with the various accents of the Indian subcontinent. And no doubt the Indian gentlemen are wondering about the nasal southern Californian with the slight tinge of South Carolinian drawl and the Anglo Irish vocabulary.

No man likes to do it, but in the end I surrendered and called someone to come out who knew what he was doing. He took one look at my set up and said "That adapter is only for a wired network." So I could have entered codes for the rest of my life and even learnt Hindustani and what I had set up would never have worked. The man who knew what he was doing sorted it out in under ten minutes. It took him longer to write out the bill than it did to set up the network.

So if you need technical assistance, you know where not to go.

And my thumb is feeling much better now, thank you. I can bash away at the space bar without a twinge.